Innocents

by Lena August

  Chapter 5

  I sit here most of the day until it starts to grow dark. Then I quietly slip back into the house. Dinner that evening is a quiet, depressing affair. We all sit together, yet no one talks. We concentrate on our plates trying to force in as much food as possible. I am so nervous that I hardly taste what I am eating.

  After dinner, I take a long shower, trying to let all my worries flow down the drain with the soapy water, to drown my fears. It doesn’t work, so I give up and turn the water off. I towel off my hair and comb through the worst of the knots with my fingers. Then I head back to my room.

  Everyone else is already lying down, sleeping, or at least pretending to. I can’t imagine that any of us will get any sleep tonight. Still, we have to try, and we make a valiant effort. I estimate that it is well past midnight before someone finally speaks.

  “I think it’s obvious that none of us are going to be able to fall asleep, so we might as well talk to keep our minds off tomorrow.” It’s the dark haired boy who had interrupted the guard back at the table. “And I guess if no one else is going to fill the silence, then I will. My name is Calder…I volunteered for this mission.”

  I turn around in my sleeping bag to stare at him.

  “Why would you volunteer for something like this?” I ask, “We’ve sent hundreds of people the Murderers and only three have ever come back.”

  Calder just shrugs, “At least I am doing something useful this way. It’s better than working maintenance at Addicts all my life, which is what I was doing before I volunteered. I’ve been on Innocents for eleven years, since I was ten. My dad was sent to TVs after he got into a bar fight. My mom is still on Mainlands.” He gives a sad laugh, “she refused to take me in, claiming I was going to be as violent as my dad. Anyway, I guess I figured that this was a chance to get away from life on Addicts, one way or another.”

  There is a long silence, until Kyla finally fills it. “I personally think life is better on Innocents than on Mainlands.” She tosses her long brown hair out of her face, “But then again, I was raised in the Boston Projects, so I guess it doesn’t take much to be better than that. Both my parents were sent to Addicts when I was twelve so I had more time out on Mainlands than most. Got a taste of what it was really like, instead of just hearing the romanticized version they teach at school. It’s horrible, officers can take you in for questioning for no reason if they think you’re acting suspiciously, and can keep you for however long they want. It happened to my parents several times. Sometimes I would come home from school to find the house empty and my parents wouldn’t come home for days.” She trails off, lost in her memories.

  “How did you end up here?” Calder asks.

  “Insubordination,” she replies, “They tried to send me to work at Crazies and I told them no way, I’d rather spend the rest of my life on Murderers. Probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever said and according to them, I got my wish.”

  She shakes her head disbelievingly, “but I guess life is too short to spend time dwelling on things we can’t change.”

  We sit in silence again, and then one by one the rest of us share our stories, what happened to send us to Innocents, how we ended up on the mission. Everything we had never told anyone else is suddenly spilling out. The other boy, a tall blond whose name is Eaton, was a guard at Addicts. He was caught taking bribes, which earned him a spot on the trip. Both his parents are on Thieves.

  I learn that the young girl’s name in Tegan, she is only fourteen and was born on Innocents. A few days earlier, she had found an old emergency raft that washed up onto the coast. She attempted to escape to Mainlands with it. It took only three minutes for them to catch her. Finally, I find myself relaying my life story.

  I tell them about witnessing my dad stab the officer and how the blood pooled when he was shot. I tell them about my dreams of becoming a Murderers guard, and then about yesterday’s fight. I am sure they have already heard the story, news spreads fast on Innocents, but they let me tell it anyways.

  At the end of the night, it feels like a bond has formed between us. I try not to think about how that will make it harder to watch them die. But maybe I won’t survive long enough to have to worry about that.

  At five o’clock in the morning, we abandon our attempts to sleep and head out for breakfast. A couple of guards are just finishing eating, I recognize Thomas among them. He beckons us over.

  “You are going to have to eat quickly.” He tells us, “the next guard shift is leaving in fifteen minutes, and we need enough time to load the supplies.”

  I take a seat and begin to load my plate with eggs and bacon. As I eat, I manage to catch bits of the guards’ conversations.

  “Did you hear? There was a bit of excitement at the fence last night.”

  “Yeah, that’s what Chad said. Were you there?”

  “Yep, I just caught it at the end of my shift. Five of em’ tried to climb the fence. Didn’t make it very far, but it’s been a while since we’ve had an attack of that size.”

  “You know, if we were allowed to carry guns, I doubt they would be so eager to screw with us.”

  “Sure, but you know the PSC, they don’t want that kind of weaponry in the wrong hands if something happens.

  “I think the PSC underestimates us. Ah well, did you catch their allegiance?”

  “Merce thought the one guy was wearing an Astut symbol. But I don’t know what they would be doing on this side of the island. Most likely they were Scorch. It wasn’t like we were going to cross the fence to check the bodies” The guard laughs and stands up, facing us. “If you want to come with us, you’d better finish up quick. We leave in five minutes.”

  I shovel down the rest of my food and follow the others outside. The day is already hot and sticky and it seems that more smoke has blown in from Thieves overnight; the dark gray tinge gives the sky a foreboding look, like a storm is coming.

  We stop at a small harbor, only three docks total. The boats are identical to the one that took us here. Thomas follows us down, pulling a cart filled with black objects. As he comes closer I realize that they are backpacks, the kind you take when you are doing an overnight hike. He hands one to each of us.

  “This is your lifeline; it contains food, water, and most importantly, your weapons. Unfortunately, the PSC only allows us to give you knives. If it were up to me, you’d go in there with high powered guns. But their logic is if you are attacked and defeated, at least the clans won’t gain anything too valuable or dangerous.” He shrugs to show his disagreement with the PSC. “Rumor has it that there’s a new bill going through the Councils that would make it legal for us to carry guns, but until that happens, these are the best that I can give you. The pack also contains a bag of food to drop off. Remember, walk for a day and a half before you leave it. And by that time, you will be closer to the other end of the island so don’t attempt to backtrack, we don’t want you lost and wandering around, especially not in Domus territory.”

  I stare at my bag. I was expecting to have to hall crates and crates of food. The guard nearest to me correctly interprets my incredulous expression.

  “The PSC agreed to send food to Murderers, but the Prisoners’ Rights Association failed to specify how much food they wanted to send. And food isn’t cheap so…” He trails off.

  Well, it doesn’t matter to me how much food the Murderers get. This just means our job is easier. I shoulder my pack and take a seat on the boat. It takes only ten minutes to arrive at Murderers. Up close, the forest that covers the island looks huge. Before stepping off the boat, I rummage in my pack and retrieve the knife, my only hope for survival. The blade is longer than I am used to and is carefully engraved with the mark of Innocents: a single star enclosed within a circle. I feel comforted having the knife in my hand. Even if it is an illusion, the feeling of the cold steel gives me a sense of security. I take a deep breath and walk toward the gate. A guard is waiting for us with a key.

  “I’
ll see you at the funeral,” he says mockingly as he unlocks the gate. However, when he wishes us good luck, his voice is sincere.

  Once we are all through the gate, my team looks to me for directions. Oh, right, I’m supposed to be the leader of this thing.

  “First, you should all take out your knives, and then um, I guess we can just start walking this way…” I trail off uncertainly.

  The forest is so dense that we lose sight of the fence within five minutes. Branches keep cutting my face, and I am already drenched with sweat. My rib injury burns with every step, and I have to take care not to groan in pain. I look around and see that the rest of my team is faring no better. After an hour, Tegan begins to trail behind the group. As much as I want to avoid doing it, we have to stop and take a rest. After all, I am not sure my ribs can handle much more walking without a break.

  We flop down on the ground, probably making much more noise than is smart. I find my water bottle and take several huge gulps before realizing I should probably conserve it. The size of the bottle concerns me. It really only holds enough for a meager day’s worth. Hopefully we won’t get sick from drinking from the rivers and ponds. Although I am still exhausted, I figure it’s unwise to remain sedentary for very long, so I give the command to continue.

  “Just five more minutes,” Eaton pleads

  I consider this and decide to give in. Perhaps if we rest now, we will be able to use our energy later on. I take a seat on the forest floor. The air is nicer down here, cooler and somewhat lacking in the smell of smoke. Quietly, Kyla takes a seat next to me.

  “It could be my imagination, but I think someone might be watching us,” she whispers.

  I freeze and scan the surroundings. “How do you know?” I ask.

  “I just have this feeling. And a couple of times I thought I heard twigs snapping. It’s probably nothing, but I just thought I should tell you.”

  I nod. “Okay guys, I think we should head out now,” I say as casually as possible. If we are being watched, I don’t want them to know that we have been alerted to their presence, whoever “them” is.

  Eaton begins to complain but I shoot him a look, trying to silently convey that we may be in danger. Perhaps he understands because he gets up without another word.

  As we start walking, I too become aware of a faint rustling in the brush, an occasional snap of a twig. We are, without a doubt, being followed, and on an island where everyone has killed before, this is not a good thing. I grip my knife tightly. My palm begins to sweat and I have trouble keeping the blade steady. I hear another twig snap, this time coming from my left. I jump violently, whirling around to face the noise, but the only person there is Calder. He raises an eyebrow at the sight of my raised knife.

  “Careful,” he says smiling, “There are enough ways to die in here already without having to worry about being accidentally stabbed by the team leader.”

  I am about to reply with a witty remark when I see a dark shape out of the corner of my eye. I barely have time to shout a warning before they abandon their hiding places, coming at us from all sides. Ten of them at least.